The Percy Jackson franchise is getting a second chance thanks to an ongoing series on the Disney+ streaming service. But, when Disney and FOX moved forward with the merger, the house of mouse actually inherited a few more forgotten properties.
There’s many huge franchises, whether they be ongoing series or beloved one off films, which are yet to see some kind of revival. Some are more recent while others would have been sitting in the archives for some time. With so many brand new intellectual properties for the Walt Disney Company, it begs the question, what could be revisited next?
Narnia
The Chronicles Of Narnia was a franchise that Disney originally owned, before FOX purchased it from them. Now that the re-brand of 20th Century Studios is complete, there’s hope for this fan favorite franchise.
There’s talk that the famous novels will actually find a home on Netflix, with the suggestion that the streaming service could be working on a series or film. But, it makes a lot of sense for Disney+ to add to their library with the lions, witches and wardrobes.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
There’s always been an ongoing interest in previous Joss Whedon franchises. The director and writer recently shot into mainstream movies thanks to his work on the Avengers and the Justice League franchises.
His cult classics have an ever growing audience thanks to people revisiting them across time. There’s a good chance that Buffy The Vampire Slayer could be rebooted in some way, for a new generation.
Night At The Museum
Ben Stiller’s Night At The Museum franchise enjoyed a successful trilogy which saw a number of famous actors turn their talents to becoming museum artefacts.
The series is perfect for Disney+ and the films fit right in alongside some of the other family friendly content. It wouldn’t be too surprising therefore to see the studio put together a follow up series, perhaps with a different night guard.
The Gifted
The X-Men were a huge set of characters that FOX could use in various film and TV formats, although they didn’t capitalise on the television prospects of mutants for some time.
When they did, one of the series they produced was The Gifted. The popular superhero show was left on a cliffhanger, after getting cancelled likely as a consequence of the merger. This is easily a franchise that Marvel Studios can revive in the MCU.
Assassins Creed
Video game movies are starting to see a renascence, thanks in large part to family targeted films such as Detective Pikachu and Sonic The Hedgehog. Assassins Creed by comparison was unfortunately ill-received by fans of the games and critics alike.
While on the face of it the franchise doesn’t appear to be overtly suited for Disney+ it could easily be adapted to work for a teenage audience in the way the Pirates Of The Caribbean does, or perhaps how Prince Of Persia was imagined to do.
Independence Day
Will Smith’s movie career was heavily boosted by the phenomenon of Independence Day. Finally a sequel was created, but the nostalgic cinema trip didn’t please audiences in the same way.
These films were quickly forgotten about once again, but there could be a Disney version of the franchise waiting to break free. There’s certainly ways this alien vs humanity narrative can become suitable for the platform.
Die Hard
Die Hard seems like the last film that would be suitable for the family based Disney+ streaming service. But the name is so recognisable it’ll be surprising if the company doesn’t capitalise it.
It wouldn’t be all too shocking to see a new take on this, perhaps with a younger generation of warriors and far less profanity and violence. Think The Spy Next Door but with a few more Die Hard elements.
Robots
For some time Robots was a forgotten animated film, in the early days of Blue Sky Studios. It has since developed quite the following, with many looking fondly back on the childhood memories it provided.
Sadly the late Robin Williams was a large part of this and this does make it more difficult to follow up with a sequel. But the world of the robots is one that could absolutely be explored further on Disney+.
Legion
Another X-Men franchise that has been ended thanks to the changing status quo; Legion did at least have the opportunity to conclude before its cancellation.
It’s entirely possible to bring in David Haller to the Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks to the time travel hi-jinks which the show concluded with. Fans of the show would certainly welcome the additional mutant character.
Anastasia
One of the few animated movies that 20th Century FOX produced was the fondly remembered Anastasia. With a fantastical take on Russian history, the movie could allow a brand new Disney princess to enter the ranks.
Not only does the original movie fit perfectly into the Disney+ library, but there’s every possibility that the film could be followed up with an updated sequel, revisiting the character years on from her life changing adventure.
